jea333
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: iPhone 4S without sim card, wifi no longer works.

I went to access the web on my sim-less iPhone 4s and it no longer will connect to my intranet or internet. There is no mac address for wifi, the wifi switch is grayed out. I saw Apple's official response (reset network) and that did nt work (tried that several times). Wanted to let my kids use this old phone for the web and as a home Skype phone. Does anyone know of a real fix?

Posted on Feb 9, 2016 6:51 PM

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jea333

Q: iPhone 4S without sim card, wifi no longer works.

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  • by brenden dv,

    brenden dv brenden dv Feb 11, 2016 6:35 AM in response to jea333
    Community Specialists
    Feb 11, 2016 6:35 AM in response to jea333

    Hi jea333,

     

    Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. I'm sorry to hear you are having this issue with your iPhone. It sounds like you have been on the right track in your troubleshooting. From your description, it sounds like you have probably already seen this article, but just in case, you may find the following article regarding greyed out WiFi on an iPhone helpful, including the recommendation to contact Apple Support directly if the iOS update and network reset don't resolve the issue:

     

    If Wi-Fi is grayed out or dim on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

     

    Regards

  • by jea333,

    jea333 jea333 Feb 11, 2016 7:57 AM in response to brenden dv
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 11, 2016 7:57 AM in response to brenden dv

    Thanks Brenden, I tried to restore but it won't let me with"find my iPhone" selected and I can't de-select without signing into iCloud which I can't do because I have no wifi access on the phone this is all the problem if trying to restore from iTunes. I accessed my iCloud account on my MacBook and de-selected this device from the "find my iPhone" section but iTunes will still not restore it (probably because the iPhone itself is unaffected by any changes outside of direct input or through iTunes?).

  • by brenden dv,

    brenden dv brenden dv Feb 11, 2016 2:00 PM in response to jea333
    Community Specialists
    Feb 11, 2016 2:00 PM in response to jea333

    Hi Jea333,

     

    Thanks again for using the Apple Support Community. Given the nature of the issues you are describing and your current configuration, you may be better served by reaching out to one of Apple's other available resources for more direct assistance - https://getsupport.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action

     

    Regards

  • by love repair,

    love repair Feb 11, 2016 6:18 PM in response to jea333
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Feb 11, 2016 6:18 PM in response to jea333

    iPhone 4s with grayed out WiFi is a very common issue.  It is a failure of the WiFi chip on the board.  Every device has its "signature problems" and for the 4s bad WiFi chip over time is at the top of the list.    You can get a few more weeks out of it with a DIY hack "repair" by putting some heat on the chip---you can google this if you want to go that route, but I do not consider that a repair and the problem will just come back.

     

    Replacement of the WiFi chip is possible, but it is hard to find anyone to do it for less than the price of a good condition 4s online.   I no longer offer 4s WiFi chip replacement for mail in board repair, although we used to do it all the time.

     

    best of luck.